As a little girl, I always wanted a pony for Christmas. Santa never brought me a pony. So in my late 40s, I started taking horseback riding lessons. When I turned 50, I got my first horse, an Icelandic named Blessi (Veigar frá Búðardal). Little did I know how much fun life with an Icelandic was going to be. Blessi has a unique perspective on life. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoy Blessi. And you will probably read about my cats from time to time.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Selecting an Icelandic for Dressage

I asked an Icelandic horse international
breeding judge what would be the best conformation for an Icelandic horse to
have for trotting not tolting to success in dressage. Here are her suggestions--if I can
interpret my notes correctly. I may not have written things down
accurately but I have tried to relay what she said as well as I can.

A 4-gaited horse would be better
than 5-gaited because (unless you are talking about a world class horse) they
usually have a better canter and can trot slower.

Look for long lines (I am still a
bit confused on this--has to do with top line and balance), long neck, long
body, long legs. (This does not mean a long back!!!). The horse should be
constructed kind of like Blessi--although ideally without Blessi's small hump
(beginning of back to croup) in the back which indicates stiff
loins. This is one of Blessi's conformational flaws--Barbara picked right
up on this and said it indicates that he will have some difficulty in
getting his rear hocks under himself in collection. Two
dressage instructors have noted that Blessi has to work on this--he can do a
nice job but it is not as easy for him as for some horses.

Neck should be set high--avoid a too
long neck or ewe neck. Top line is important. Look at arch of
neck so can break at poll. Jaws should not be too coarse so there is room
to arch the head in a collected position.

If you look at the horse from the
side, you should be able to divide the head, neck, withers/ body of horse/
loins, back legs into three equal parts (Blessi's mid section is a tad too
long for ideal conformation).Like any breed, you want an Icelandic horse with good conformation--the better the conformation, usually the greater the ability.

The horse should have energy but not
be too hot.

One of the things you really want to
look for is the center of gravity--which, per my interpretation, is kind
of the location of where the sweet spot is--that area where the back dips and
the saddle naturally sits and enables the rider to have her weight in the
right place. Some icelandics have a center of gravity too far forward. This makes it very, very
difficult for the horse to raise its front quarters in a gait--whether trot or
tolt or canter. Although this "flaw" actually becomes an
advantage in a pace racer--which Barbara explained and I did not write down.

And as Blessi is moving from training level to level 1 in dressage, it becomes increasingly apparent that having a natural 3-beat canter is important for dressage success. Many Icelandics tend to have a 4-beat canter although some Icelandics have a beautiful 3-beat canter. Blessi requires a lot of conditioning and training to achieve anything like a 3-beat canter.

And if you have a natural tolter, you can always try gaited dressage!!! However, be careful if an Icelandic horse is advertised as "suitable for dressage." The seller may mean that the horse is supple, athletic, has good trot and tolt, and has a natural ability for dressage. Or it may mean that the horse can't tolt or has difficulty tolting and the seller is trying to think of a way to market this Icelandic--a stiff horse regardless of whether it tolts or trots will have difficulty winning blue ribbons at dressage.